We Have a Marketing Groupthink Problem

And the exercise I do to break out of it.

Marketing can be a bubble. The same 10 accounts get written about for being “the best.” Strategies that are simply not replicable are passed around as examples of “what more brands should do.” 50 people break down the same campaign on LinkedIn and laud it as a success—but did it even break through for the average consumer? Or was it just a "success" to the marketing crowd? Please don’t even get me started on how many times I’ve seen this ad on a mood board.

If I see this ad one more time…

I’m certainly guilty of this too—but it’s why my goal with Link in Bio has always been to try and expand, push, and pop this bubble.

When I do research to find new interviews or stories, I like to ask my friends who don’t work in marketing what their feeds look like. It’s an exercise that gets me out of the marketing groupthink that tends to dominate feeds.

What account does my friend who is a therapist love?

What brands show up on the FYP of a chef?

Why does my dad keep sending me posts from Grillo’s Pickles?

After all, the goal of a consumer brand on social is to reach, well, consumers.

For today’s newsletter, I asked some of my favorite non-marketers to tell me about a brand account that they love. Interestingly, almost all of the accounts submitted clearly provide some sort of utility to the person recommending it.

Utility.

It’s a not-so-sexy descriptor that I think we, as marketers, sometimes downplay. An account that’s providing a specific utility to their audience oftentimes stands out more to an actual customer than the over-stimulating accounts we read articles about.

Those attention-grabbing tactics definitely help people discover brand accounts, but what makes them stay?

I’ve found that when a marketer describes their favorite brand account, it’s usually out of admiration for their strategy. But when a customer describes their favorite brand account, it’s usually out of practicality. They are learning something. They are being immersed in the brand’s world. They are hearing about sales and product updates. They are getting an experience that perfectly compliments their IRL love of the brand.

Below you’ll find the favorite brand accounts from people who don’t work in marketing. Like comedian Rachel Coster, chef Rashida Holmes, fashion writer Liana Satenstein, Celebrity Memoir Book Club podcaster Ashley Hamilton, florist Puni Petals, TikTok perfume reviewer Scout Dixon West, and many more.

Thanks to their recommendations I scrolled the accounts of a clothing store in Azerbaijan, a guitar effects pedal company, a “sartorial menswear” brand, an educational museum, and more. These new-to-me accounts have already helped me think differently about social media and, ultimately, made me a better marketer. I hope this exercise helps you too.